DeVos: Defrauded Students May Only Get Partial Loan Relief | Associated Press

December 10, 2019

Students who are cheated by their colleges will receive full loan forgiveness only if they end up earning far less than their peers, while others will receive relief between 25% and 75% of their debt under new rules unveiled Tuesday by the U.S. Education Department.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos took another crack at revamping a student loan forgiveness program Tuesday, affecting thousands of students who took out federal loans to attend for-profit colleges that solicited attendance with fraudulent claims.

In October, after the Trump administration initially said it erroneously collected on the loans of some 16,000 Corinthian borrowers, a federal judge held DeVos in contempt of court and imposed a $100,000 fine for violating an order to stop collecting on student loans from the defunct for-profit college. Now, according to the department, that means a total of 45,801 borrowers “were erroneously taken out of forbearance or stopped collections status.” That includes the roughly 29,000 newly identified borrowers, plus the original 16,034 borrowers. “FSA has now placed all 45,801 borrowers in the correct status,” the government’s court filing said.

Trump Administration Reveals That Far More Corinthian Colleges Students Faced Debt Collection in Violation of a Court Order | Washington Post

December 4, 2019

The Education Department revealed in a court filing this week that it identified an additional 29,000 former Corinthian Colleges students who were pursued for federal student loan payments despite a court order barring collection.

Over 45,000 Students Forced to Repay Loans by Mistake, DeVos Says | Courthouse News Service

December 3, 2019

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos forced more than 45,000 defrauded students to repay loans in violation of a court order – far more than the 16,000 originally estimated, the department revealed in a court filing Tuesday.

Education Department Doubles Number of Loans it Improperly Collected On | US News and World Report

December 3, 2019

In a monthly compliance report dated Dec. 1, department officials disclosed that a glitch in the agency’s monitoring system resulted in a major undercount of the number of borrowers who were incorrectly collected on, either in the form of traditional payments or wage and tax refund garnishments.

Theresa Sweet’s parents gave her a 35-millimeter camera when she was in the third grade. She fondly recalls saving her allowance to develop film as she became the family photographer. It was a gift that would change her life forever, setting her on a path into the world of for-profit colleges.

Trump Admin Backtracks on Bid to Stop $100K Fine | Politico

November 6, 2019

The Trump administration is withdrawing its request that a federal judge reconsider the $100,000 fine she imposed for violating a court order on student loan collection. The administration says it can’t yet be sure whether it’s in “full compliance” with that order.

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